The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her daughter, 10, have been found inside freezers in an apartment in western Austria.
The remains of the Syrian woman and child, who had been missing for several months, were discovered on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a drywall partition in the flat, located in the city of Innsbruck.
Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told police last week there had been an accident - but denied murder.
Hansjörg Mayr, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office, stated that the pair were being held on 'strong suspicion of murder.'
The names of those involved have not been released by police, in accordance with Austrian law.
The family's disappearance was first reported by the woman's cousin, who lives in Germany, on 25 July 2024.
Police said the woman's colleague - the 55-year-old man - informed them at that time that she had gone on an extended trip with her child to visit her parents in Turkey.
Her bank card was later found to have been used several times abroad.
However, a search of the woman's home revealed her mobile phone was still there.
A witness reported hearing a loud noise in the apartment and the cries of 'mama' on the day the two disappeared.
A broader police investigation unveiled various messages sent from the woman's phone, including a resignation letter to her employer and messages directed to the male colleague.
Authorities identified a significant sum of money transferred to the man shortly before the disappearance.
Katja Tersch, head of the State Criminal Police Office in Tyrol, informed reporters that a storage unit had been rented out just before the victims' disappearance, where a freezer was placed.
The brothers reportedly removed the freezer from the unit on the day the woman and her child vanished and acquired another freezer a week later, suggesting premeditation in the deaths.
While the exact cause of death could not be determined due to the levels of decomposition, the investigation continues to unfold.
Mayr revealed that the sequence of events is still unclear, but the bodies were hidden professionally, making them undetectable during earlier searches.
One of the brothers initially admitted to an incident and to hiding the bodies but denied any intent to kill. His younger brother acknowledged his involvement in the cover-up while denying knowledge of a homicide.
The two men are currently detained in different prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 117 miles apart.
In response to this horrific incident, Austria's Minister for Women Eva-Maria Holzleitner and Justice Minister Anna Sporrer issued a joint statement highlighting the urgency of addressing femicides, labeling them as a persistent societal issue.
The ministers condemned the alleged double murder as a brutal end to two lives, emphasizing the need for action against the systemic violence faced by women and girls:
Femicides are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely.
